Recommended Tools
These are the 7 most frequently used PDF operations in Stirling-PDF, prominently featured for quick access. Perfect for everyday PDF tasks.
Multi-Tool
Tool ID: multiTool
A powerful workbench interface that allows you to chain multiple PDF operations together in sequence without re-uploading files between steps.
What it does
- Upload PDFs once and use them across multiple operations
- Chain operations together (e.g., merge → compress → add watermark)
- See thumbnail previews of your files
- Switch between different tools seamlessly
- All processing happens in a single session
Perfect for
- Complex multi-step PDF workflows
- Working with the same file across different operations
- Experimenting with different settings
- Batch processing with multiple tools
📖 Read the complete Multi-Tool Guide → for detailed workflows, tips, and advanced features.
Merge PDFs
Tool ID: merge
Combine multiple PDF documents into a single unified PDF file.
What it does
- Merge 2 or more PDF files into one document
- Rearrange the order of PDFs before merging
- Preview thumbnails of each PDF
- Maintain quality of original documents
- Preserve bookmarks and metadata (optional)
Perfect for
- Combining multiple reports into one document
- Merging chapters or sections of a book
- Consolidating scanned documents
- Creating comprehensive document packages
Options
- Sort Order: Drag and drop to reorder PDFs before merging
- Metadata: Choose which source document's metadata to keep
Compare
Tool ID: compare
Compare two PDF documents side-by-side and visually highlight the differences between them. Essential for reviewing document revisions and finding changes.
What it does
- Display two PDFs side-by-side for easy comparison
- Highlight text differences (added, removed, modified)
- Visual diff view with color coding
- Navigate between changes easily
- Generate comparison reports
Perfect for
- Reviewing document revisions
- Finding changes between contract versions
- Quality assurance and proofreading
- Legal document comparison
📖 Read the complete Compare Guide → for detailed comparison modes, settings, use cases, and best practices.
Compress
Tool ID: compress-pdf
Reduce PDF file size while maintaining acceptable quality for your needs. Stirling-PDF's compression tool optimizes images, removes unnecessary data, and applies various compression techniques.
What it does
- Significantly reduce PDF file size (10-90% reduction)
- Multiple compression levels available
- Compress images within PDFs
- Remove unnecessary metadata
- Optimize for web or email sharing
Perfect for
- Sharing PDFs via email
- Reducing storage requirements
- Faster PDF loading times
- Meeting file size upload limits
📖 Read the complete Compress Guide → for detailed compression options, quality settings, tips, and best practices.
Convert
Tool ID: convert
Convert between PDF and 50+ other file formats including images, Office documents, HTML, and more.
What it does
- Convert TO PDF from 50+ formats
- Convert FROM PDF to images, Office files, HTML, etc.
- Batch conversion support
- Maintains formatting when possible
- Supports both single and multiple file conversion
Supported Formats
To PDF
- Images: JPG, PNG, GIF, TIFF, BMP, WebP
- Office: DOCX, XLSX, PPTX, DOC, XLS, PPT
- Web: HTML files, URLs (website screenshots)
- Text: TXT, RTF, Markdown
- Email: EML (email to PDF)
- Comics: CBZ, CBR
From PDF
- Images: JPG, PNG, TIFF, BMP, GIF
- Office: DOCX (Word), PPTX (PowerPoint)
- Web: HTML, XML
- Text: Plain text
- Archival: PDF/A
- Data: CSV (table extraction)
- Comics: CBZ, CBR
Perfect for
- Converting scanned images to searchable PDFs (combine with OCR)
- Creating PDFs from Office documents
- Extracting text from PDFs
- Archiving emails as PDFs
- Converting PDFs to editable Word documents
Learn more: Complete Conversion Guide
OCR (Optical Character Recognition)
Tool ID: ocr-pdf
Make scanned PDFs searchable and editable by recognizing text in images. Stirling-PDF's OCR tool uses Tesseract OCR engine to extract text from image-based PDFs.
What it does
- Recognize text from scanned documents
- Make image-based PDFs searchable
- Extract text from images within PDFs
- Support for 100+ languages
- Preserve original document layout
Perfect for
- Scanned documents and images
- Making old paper documents searchable
- Extracting text from photos of documents
- Creating accessible PDFs from scans
- Enabling copy/paste from scanned PDFs
📖 Read the complete OCR Guide → for detailed instructions, language support, configuration options, and best practices.
Redact
Tool ID: redact
Permanently remove sensitive information from PDF documents with black boxes or white spaces.
What it does
- Permanently remove (not just hide) text
- Black out or white out sensitive information
- Automatic redaction based on text patterns
- Manual redaction with draw tool
- Regex pattern support for complex redaction
Perfect for
- Removing personal information (PII)
- Redacting confidential data
- Preparing documents for public release
- GDPR/privacy compliance
- Legal document redaction
Redaction Methods
Manual Redaction
- Draw boxes over areas to redact
- Preview before applying
- Adjust box size and position
- Choose black or white fill
Automatic Redaction
- Search for text patterns to redact
- Use regex for complex patterns
- Redact all instances automatically
- Preview matches before redacting
Common Use Cases
- Social Security Numbers:
\d{3}-\d{2}-\d{4} - Phone Numbers:
\(\d{3}\) \d{3}-\d{4} - Email Addresses:
[\w\.-]+@[\w\.-]+\.\w+ - Credit Card Numbers:
\d{4}[\s-]?\d{4}[\s-]?\d{4}[\s-]?\d{4} - Custom text: Any word or phrase
Important Notes
- Redaction is permanent - original content cannot be recovered
- Always download and verify redacted PDFs
- Test regex patterns before applying to ensure accuracy
- Manual review recommended for sensitive documents
Learn more: Redaction Guide
Why These Tools?
These 7 tools represent the most common PDF operations that users perform daily:
- Multi-Tool - Work with multiple operations efficiently
- Merge - Combine documents (one of the most requested features)
- Compare - Review changes and differences
- Compress - Share files easily via email/upload
- Convert - Universal format compatibility
- OCR - Make any document searchable
- Redact - Privacy and security compliance
Quick Access
In Stirling-PDF V2, these recommended tools are:
- ✨ Featured prominently on the home page
- 🔍 Easier to find in search
- ⭐ Marked with special indicators
- 📱 Optimized for quick access
Next Steps
- Explore more tools: Complete Tool Reference
- Standard tools: Security, Page Operations
- Advanced features: Automation Workflows
- API access: API Documentation